Journalist, entrepreneur and marketing firm founder. I write about higher ed and early career issues. Pithily. I was pontificating about Millennials and Millennial culture back when they were still known as Gen Y.

3 Reasons You Should Quit Social Media In 2013

As an experiment, I quit the internet in September. I started with Twitter (update: I’ve since rejoined this particular platform), I moved on to Facebook and ended by shuttering my blog. I didn’t stop freelancing or responding to emails, but I dropped social media and my participation in it like a hot potato and I haven’t looked back. I held a client meeting at Dunkin’ Donuts. If I wanted to see adorable pictures of my nieces, I had to email my sister to request them. I had more room in my schedule for the gym. The less time I’ve spent working on my online brand, the more offline opportunities have come my way. Here are three reasons you too should disentangle yourself from the social web in 2013:

Almost a quarter of Americans say that they’ve missed out on important life moments in their quest to capture and memorialize them for social media. Think about that the next time you’re Instagraming your anniversary dinner at P.F. Chang’s. With the ubiquity of communications technology in our daily lives, it’s easy to convince ourselves that the digital world is where all the action is and that the effort we put into building our online empire directly correlates to IRL benefits such as scoring a new job or landing a new mate. In fact, over 90% of job hunters of all ages look for work online, but less than 5% are conducting offline job hunting activities such as attending networking events or setting up information interviews. And guess what? A full 70 – 80% of job vacancies are never posted, so all that job board scouring is likely for naught. If the only benefit you’ve derived from flexing your social media muscle was free anti-antiperspirant samples from the folks at Klout, it might be time to direct your energy elsewhere.

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Like everything there is balance and it appears to me, for the sake of rhetoric or notoriety, you have flung yourself to one extreme. Last week, my family and I spent the week in a remote part of Australia free from phone, internet and television: It was a delightful break. On return, I balance my communications between face-to-face with phone, email and social media. However, a sensible person uses all best communication tools applicable to them and, as someone who describes herself as a “write(r) about early career issues. Pithily,” you’re sending your followers down the wrong path.

This isn’t entirely true. Everything has it’s place. The real issue comes when we obsess over something. Even the seemingly most benign habit becomes damaging in the grasp of addiction which is really a symptom of something far more serious within a person’ psychology.

It really feeds the need of meticulously comparing yourself to others, which is a horrible thing to do and Facebook just makes it too easy. I don’t need to know about any studies, I can literally feel my self-esteem crumbling while reading my Wall at times. I have always not cared about what I had on my profile, but it’s those other folks (girls mostly) that go to these great lengths to amass a library of pictures, events, all that time-consuming jazz so that their lives look as active, happy, and as beautiful as possible. I have to remind myself that it’s mostly illusion and that they do about as much as me in their day-to-day life. Less, because they are wasting hours posting everything on the Internet. I don’t frequent my FB much at all these days, I long ago got rid of my cell’s data plan and now just use it as a phone. I feel healthier cutting the connection. I have always been a private person, though. Who knows, a regular social butterfly might benefit from Facebook while people like me suffer from it.

I’m sorry but your first sentence I quit the internet is total BS… Otherwise you wouldnt have written this article. You wouldnt have emailed your sister for pics. Social media allows family members to connect with one another when they live thousands of miles away. To each their own but you didnt quit anything because youre still talking about it.

Another article from a person that does nothing of those she listed above… which is why she’s writing the article in the first place. What is it called? Displacement? If you already have low self esteem, the internet won’t make it any better. Get your priorities in line before you waste time online… there, simple, right?

Lol, I was just Googling to find apps to help myself get even more social on Facebook in the upcoming year as i hardly found time in the recent years to actively use facebook and other social media networks. And after ready this, I’m sort of confused now :p Should i really quit my plans to use social media more often?